Photos #4 and #5

As I post this picture I have to giggle a bit.  I stumbled across this photo opportunity the other day at school.  This explains why I haven't posted over the last few days.  Coffee and meds are the two coping mechanisms that have gotten me through my first week back to school after winter break.  I am amongst the many "lucky" ones that have been struck with the upper respiratory infection/cough.  In an effort to focus on the positive, I am thankful for STRONG coffee and PRESCRIPTION cough syrup to get me through these tough days.

I found myself looking around my classroom on Thursday for an inspirational photo.  Before I knew it my camera was busy snapping shots of different signs, projects, and areas around my classroom that I found to be inspirational.  By the time that I was done, almost an hour had passed and instead of being frustrated that I just wasted an hour of my time, I found myself with a smile on my face because my classroom is a place in my life that makes me feel joy and happiness.  I love my job.  I stumbled across this quote this morning, "Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life."  Now, I am not going to say that sometime my job doesn't stress me out but I can confidently say that I am in the right profession for me.  Teaching is my calling and it makes me proud to say that I am a teacher.  It brings me so much happiness to instill the love for learning in my students.  The fire that I light in my students for learning will affect them for a lifetime.  One of my students said to me the other day, "Mrs. Olson, do you know how I can tell that you love your job?  Because you make learning fun for us and we love to come to school because of that."  I think this is the best compliment I have ever heard and the fact that it came from a 7 year old makes my heart smile.